Lily's Evil
by bainnebui
Summary: Lily Potter has always considered herself to be nice, well maybe she was a little mean to her brothers. And Hugo. Now Lily can't help but feel evil. Only evil people and Slytherins can talk to snakes, right?


Lily was bored. She had spent the last ten months on her own while her brothers were off at stupid Hogwarts. Her Daddy was always at work during the day so he couldn't play with her and her Mummy was working on an article and she didn't want to be disturbed.

'But Mummy, I'm bored!' she wailed. 'I don't want to play on my own anymore.'

'Lily, stop complaining,' chastised Ginny. 'Your brothers will be home in three days; can you not find something to do on your own until then?'

Ginny had gotten very irritated with her only daughter shortly after that and decided that she should let her pay a visit to her grandmother's. That way, Ginny could write her article and Lily wouldn't be bored.

Lily had a nice afternoon at her Granparent's. She helped her Gran bake an apple pie for desert that evening, her Gramps showed her his plug collection and she explored the garden.

Lily hadn't realised how far away she was from the Burrow until she found herself next to the small lake next to the orchard that she often played Quidditch in with her cousins – well watched them play Quidditch. She was the youngest of the Weasley-Potter cousins but only by two months. Hugo was adamant to rub it in her face every chance he got that he was older.

The lake was a magical place. A willow tree stood tall on a small island in the centre of the lake, its branches falling like curtains until they touched the surface of the water. The dark water was sprinkled with leaves that fell from the surrounding trees and small Lily-pads that often held frogs. The water itself was dark and it was unknown how deep it was; her cousins had tried enough times to reach the bottom though they had had no success. Lily had tried once herself on James' insistence that merpeople lived on the lake floor. Her father had a few words to say to James after that.

'Hmph!' Lily let out a sigh of annoyance as she sat on the edge of the lake. She had thought that coming to the lake would be a good idea to beat her boredom but it had only made things worse. The lake only reminded her of the fun times she had with her cousins emphasising her current loneliness. The only person she had left was Hugo and he was visiting his muggle grandparents for the week. She was truly on her own.

'_What's wrong?_'

Lily froze. She wasn't sure if she had heard someone speak or not. _There was hissing, definitely hissing_, she convinced herself. She was insane to think that someone was talking to her. There was no one else by the lake. Something touched against her bare leg. She looked down and instantly jumped to her feet knocking the culprit off.

'Oh, you're just a tiny snake,' she laughed in relief, embarrassed by her fear. She wouldn't get into Gryffindor if she was going to jump at the sight of a grass snake. 'You wouldn't hurt me, would you?' she said picking it up.

The snake shook its head. Lily paused. She was convinced that the snake had responded to what she had said. 'I must really be lonely,' she joked. 'I'm imagining that you can understand me.'

'_I can.'_

This time, Lily dropped the snake. There had been no doubt about it; the snake had spoken to her. It was slightly incomprehensible what it had said but she had made it out.

'Um… Lily?'

Lily whipped her head around, losing sight of the snake in the progress.

'Hugo!' she exclaimed in relief. 'Don't do that ever again,' she said hitting him on the arm.

'Ouch! Do what Lil? Come and get you for dinner? Gran said you went on a walk towards the orchard so I came to find you.'

'Obviously not, Hugo,' Lily said getting annoyed. 'Don't freak me out and make me think that I'm talking to a snake!'

'What are you talking about? I just got here and you were staring at that bloody snake and speaking gibberish!' Lily stared at Hugo aghast. What was he talking about? She hadn't been speaking gibberish.

'What sort of game were you playing?' Hugo asked 'Can I play too?'

'I wasn't playing a game Hugo and I definitely wasn't speaking weirdly.' Lily said crossing her arms. 'That snake was talking to me.'

Hugo gave her a worried look. 'Ok, Lil, if you say so,' he said patronisingly. 'Gran's going to be really mad if we don't go up now so come on.' Lily followed dejectedly. She was confused.

Lily tried not to think about the snake talking to her for the next few days. It was a small bout of insanity. She had been lonely and had convinced herself that the snake was speaking to her. Her Dad did always say she had a wild imagination. Luckily she had a distraction with her brothers and cousins coming home and of course the annual end-of-school gathering at the Burrow.

Despite the over-whelming jealousy that Lily felt hearing her cousins' stories of Hogwarts she still enjoyed them. She only had a year left before she'd be getting into mischief that would rival even her Fred and George's years at Hogwarts, or so she liked to think.

Rose was telling them what she had learned about the Sorting hat and how it could reveal the sword of Godric Gryffindor to a true Gryffindor. Her Dad, Ron and Hermione were shooting each other sly smiles as they often did. Lily found it infuriating as they rarely explained what their looks were about.

'Is it true that Neville pulled the sword out of the Hat?' Albus asked. 'One of the prefects was telling us.' Lily's ears perked up at her Dad's response. She liked her Uncle Neville, he was really nice and she guessed he must be brave too to be able to deal with all those scary plants.

Harry nodded. 'In the final battle he pulled the sword from the hat and used it to kill Voldemort's snake.' The children gasped. Their parents didn't believe in withholding everything about the war from them. They tried their best to keep them informed, though Lily knew that they left a lot of information out. They knew just as much as was written in history books something that annoyed Rose a great deal as she had read almost every book on Harry and the war in the hope that she would discover something their parents had left out. She hadn't.

'Why did Voldemort have a snake?' asked Rose. 'I've read about the snake but there isn't much detail on it.'

'It was just a pet, I suppose,' Harry said awkwardly, looking at the floor. When he got like that, Lily knew he was holding something back. He shot a panicked look at Hermione.

'It was his only true companion,' she explained. 'Although Voldemort had many followers, he had no friends. The snake was like his friend.'

'Yeah, the old codger used to talk to it and everything,' Ron laughed. Hermione gave him a disapproving look.

'Voldemort could talk to snakes?' Lily choked on her pumpkin juice. Rose, Albus, James and Ron gave her a confused look. Harry and Hermione looked alarmed and concerned.

'He was a parseltongue,' Rose supplied. 'He was a descendent of Salazar Slytherin who could also speak to snakes, that's why the emblem of Slytherin is a snake. It was in his blood.'

'So it was in his blood to be evil as well?' joked James. His comment was met with glares from Harry and Hermione and a snigger from Ron which was also met with a glare from Hermione.

Hugo looked thoughtful. 'Hey Lil, didn't you say a snake talked to you –'

'Come on, Hugo,' Lily cut him off. 'Let's go and see what Teddy is doing.' She dragged him away to the suspicious stares of their parents. She pulled him to the back of the garden, away from the rest of the party.

'I thought we were going to talk to Teddy, he's over there talking to –'

'Hugo, shut up!' Lily interrupted. 'Don't you see how serious this is? If I really did talk to that snake then that means I must be evil! Only evil people like Voldemort and Slytherin can talk to snakes.'

'I don't really think Slytherin was evil, Lil.'

'Shut up Hugo! What am I going to do? I don't want to be in Slytherin, I'm not evil. I'll be a disgrace to the family. Everyone's in Gryffindor, even Teddy. Remember what your Dad said to Rose and Al before they went to Hogwarts? I'll be disowned! Nobody will talk to me again! Why would they even want to? I'm evil. I'll have to run away and live with the snakes because they'll be the only people who'll talk to me and I'll become slimy and I won't have a nose!' Lily was crying hysterically now. Hugo, being a ten year old boy, had no idea how to comfort her.

'Lily, are you sure you didn't imagine talking to the snake?' he tried to comfort her. 'We could go find a snake and check?'

Lily looked at him through her tears and nodded. 'Let's go find a snake.'

It was night so even making their way to the lake was difficult. Hugo kept walking into things.

'Watch where you're going,' Lily hissed after Hugo walked into the back of her.

'I'm sorry I can't see in the dark like a snake like some people,' Hugo snapped back. Lily shot him an irate look, which he probably didn't even see. 'Snakes can't see in the dark, Hugo.'

They shortly arrived at the lake. They could only tell due to the moons reflection off the surface of the lake.

'How are we supposed to find a snake in this light?' Hugo moaned.

Lily was about to tell him to shut up and keep looking when she heard voices shouting their names.

'Oi, what are you two doing down here,' shouted James once he spotted them. He ran down to them closely followed by Albus and Rose.

'Dad told us to follow you,' Albus explained. 'He was worried when you ran off like that. What exactly are you doing down here?'

'We're looking for a snake,' Hugo supplied. 'Lily thinks she's able to – ouch!' He had stopped talking once Lily side-kicked him to get him to be quiet.

'Lily thinks she's able to what?' Rose demanded.

Hugo opened his mouth to speak. 'If you tell them anything Hugo, I swear I'll tell your Mum how Crookshanks really lost all his hair,' Lily hissed. He promptly shut his mouth.

'Lily, why won't you tell us?' Albus asked looking hurt. 'We're your family.' Lily groaned. He'd always been good at guilt tripping people into doing things they didn't want to do.

'We're not going to tell Mum and Dad,' James scoffed. 'Though, you probably will have to explain why you two ran out here.'

Her brothers and Rose looked at her expectantly, worry etched across their faces. Even Hugo was giving her a look that urged her to tell.

'Alright fine,' she huffed. 'I'll tell you.' She took a deep breath. 'Well, I think I can –'

'I found one, Lil!' Hugo squealed from the ground. He had jumped to the floor in order to catch a small grass snake and had succeeded, the snake now held tightly between his hands. Rose, James and Albus stared at Hugo in complete confusion.

'Explain. Now,' Rose demanded firmly.

'I can talk to snakes and now I think I'm evil,' Lily blurted out quickly before Hugo could do something else to interrupt her.

The three older children looked shocked and confused for a second before they burst into laughter.

'Oh, Lily,' Albus said once he calmed down. 'You always had the most bizarre imagination.'

'Yeah, do you think you're the next Voldemort or something,' James hooted.

'This isn't funny!' protested Lily. 'I'm being serious. Hugo, give me that snake,' she demanded. Hugo obliged and handed her the squirming snake.

Lily took a deep breath and focused on the snake. She needed to prove that she could talk to snakes. She suddenly felt foolish, what did one say to a snake?

'Uh_… hi, Mr. Snake_,' James and Albus burst into another round of laughter. '_Can you please nod your head to prove that you can understand me_?' she asked it, irritated by her brothers' laughter. The snake did as she said and nodded. 'Did you see that,' Lily said triumphantly. 'He nodded like I asked him to.'

Albus and James continued to laugh. Rose and Hugo on the other hand looked sombre. 'Lily,' Rose said cautiously. 'What did you just say?'

'She just asked it to nod its head, Rosie,' laughed Albus. 'And she thinks because it did it can understand her.'

'Mr. Snake is Lily's best friend,' hooted James. 'She called it Mr. Snake!' he said through peals of laughter. He was laughing so hard he had to grab onto a tree for support.

'No, she spoke parseltongue,' Rose said matter of factly. 'All I heard were hisses. Lily, did you hiss?' Lily shook her head. 'I just spoke to it normally.'

Rose was thoughtful for a moment. 'I think all three of you can speak parseltongue. Neither Hugo or I knew what Lily said but the pair of you understood her.'

'You mean we're all evil?' squealed Lily.

The others chose to ignore her. 'But, we would've realised before if we could speak a different language,' argued James, a confused look on his face.

Rose shrugged. 'I don't know, but I don't think you should keep this to yourselves.' A look of realisation crossed the Potters' faces. 'You need to tell your Dad.'

'I don't want to tell him anything until I'm certain I can speak parseltongue,' argued Albus.

'Why don't you try then?' suggested Rose.

'I would… But I don't know how.'

'Just focus,' Lily said to her brothers. 'Pretend you're about to talk to a snake and then just talk.' James and Albus nodded.

'I'll go first,' James said. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He was silent for about a minute before he spoke to Lily. '_Is it working_?' was all he said but it was enough to put a smile across Rose's face. 'I had no idea what you just said!'

'I understood you,' Albus said. 'My turn.' He followed the same steps that James did before speaking. '_This has to be the strangest thing ever_.'

Rose beamed at him. 'I didn't understand that either.'

The five cousins headed back to the Burrow in silence, each contemplating what the ability to speak parseltongue could mean. Lily was still under the impression that it meant she was evil and Hugo agreed with her. The other three weren't as worried.

'Let's talk to Dad in parseltongue,' Albus suggested. 'To see can he understand us.' His siblings nodded and the headed towards their father. He was sitting in the corner with Ron and Hermione, leaning into one another and whispering frantically. When they noticed the children coming towards them they sat up straight.

'Lily,' Harry greeted. 'Where'd you run off to?'

Lily ignored him. 'Daddy, we need to talk to you,' she said seriously. Harry exchanged glances with Ron and Hermione before he stood up. 'Okay, lead the way.'

James led them to a large tree at the back of the garden. '_Dad, can you understand me,'_ James asked in parseltongue.

'_I wish I couldn't,' _he sighed also speaking parseltongue. 'How did you find out?' he asked in english.

'I was talking to a snake,' Lily answered. 'And then you said Voldemort could talk to snakes and he was evil so I thought I was evil too.' She broke down into tears. 'I'm so scared Daddy, I don't want to be evil.'

'You're not evil,' Harry said taking her in his arms. 'You got the ability from me.'

'How?' asked Albus.

Harry sighed. 'When Voldemort gave me my scar when I was a baby he also gave me part of himself,' he summarised not wanting to get into the topic of horcruxes with his children just yet. 'He gave me certain abilities such as the ability to speak to snakes. I honestly thought that once he died I lost the ability but apparently not. And it seems I've passed it on to you three.'

'How have we not realised before?' asked Albus.

'When have you ever gotten the chance to speak to a snake?' joked Harry. If Lily hadn't found the snake the other day you could have gone your whole lives without knowing.'

'This is wicked!' exclaimed James. 'I can't wait to tell Fred I can talk to snakes.'

'I don't want you flaunting what you can do,' Harry warned. 'The ability to speak parseltongue is still associated with dark magic and dark wizards. People might assume the worst. And the press _cannot _hear about this. I can only imagine the headlines.'

'Can I at least tell Fred?' asked James. Harry nodded. 'Al, you can tell Rosie and Hugo, though Ron and Hermione may have explained to them already. One more thing, I forbid you to speak parseltongue amongst yourselves. I will not have our family turn into the Gaunts.'

James and Al nodded before running off to join the party and to tell their friends what had just happened.

Lily hugged her father again. 'So I'm not evil, Daddy?'

Harry lifted her into his arms. 'No, Lily. You are definitely not evil.'

**AN: **Well this was a lot longer than I expected. Not sure how it turned out, I had a vague idea what I wanted to happen but this wasn't it. I just started writing and this appeared. Reviews would be greatly appreciated.

I do realise that JK Rowling has said Harry loses his abilities after he kills Voldemort but let's just pretend, ok?


End file.
